Episode 652: 5 Antidotes for Overcoming Mental Blocks and Entrepreneurial Challenges (Mindset & Self-Care)

EBT652 – 5 Antidotes for Overcoming Mental Blocks and Entrepreneurial Challenges

Intro  00:01

Hey food bloggers. Thank you so much for joining me in this mindset and self-care focused episode here on Eat Blog Talk. One of the reasons I started a blog talk was to hold a space to talk about the importance of mindset and self-care. Being an entrepreneur can be a lot. If we are not taking care of ourselves, then getting actionable information about SEO Pinterest or whatever else is all moot. I will meet you back here every Wednesday to discuss various mindset and self-care topics. So you have the energy and space to tackle the rest.

Megan Porta  00:34

Hello there, food bloggers. How are you this week? I hope you’re doing well. Welcome to this mindset and self care focused episode of Eat Blog Talk. Thank you for joining me in today’s episode. We’re going to talk about five antidotes for overcoming mental blocks and entrepreneurial challenges. I heard someone use the word antidote recently. I think it was from an audiobook or a podcast I was listening to. I’m really not sure, somewhere, while describing how they dealt with certain mental blocks they faced as an entrepreneur, I loved this. I love the idea that there is an antidote, which is a remedy to counteract the effects of poison, for the things we face as entrepreneurs. When we hear the word antidote, we tend to think of a snake bite or something similar, that can be poisonous and can kill us, and the antidote for that snake bite saves us. There are certain things that we deal with as entrepreneurs that literally can suck the lives from our souls, and sometimes we need these antidotes to come in and save us so often, as entrepreneurs, it can feel like we’re stuck with certain struggles that we experience, like there’s absolutely no way out aside from just getting through them. But this is not the case. If we can identify the poison and be aware of which antidote is needed to counteract it, then we can implement it. As you know, there is a wide array of mental blocks and challenges that we face daily when we plunge into the world of entrepreneurship. There’s overwhelm, overthinking, confusion, self doubt and lack of motivation. These struggles can be debilitating if we allow them to be, but we don’t have to let these things sink us. There are ways to combat them. In this episode, we’re going to talk through five powerful antidotes that can help you navigate mental blocks so you can keep moving in a positive direction.

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Megan Porta  03:32

Number one, physical movement is the antidote for rumination. You are currently listening to the previous queen of rumination. I don’t accept this title any longer. I’ll call myself a recovering ruminator in my attempt to loosen myself from the grips of overthinking. Historically, rumination is the main thing that has drained my energy and sucked life from my entrepreneurial soul. It is not a healthy cycle to get into. And maybe you can relate to this. When I am deep in overthinking something, it’s almost like I’m stuck in a violent wash cycle that will not stop spinning. It literally feels impossible to get out of it. When I recognize what’s happening, I then try to think my way out of overthinking. Spoiler alert, this never works. Trying to think your way out of rumination only puts you deeper into rumination, at least in my experience. So instead, try this antidote, break the cycle by getting your butt out of your chair or wherever you are ruminating from and move. Move your body. Physically, move your body in some way to break free from the endless thoughts racing through your brain. Physical movement is the perfect distraction and a way to stop overthinking in its tracks. Also, our brains release endorphins when we move, which will naturally boost your mood, creating space for fresh thoughts and new ideas. Here are a few ideas. You could take a quick walk outside. If it’s nice out, you could try a short yoga session or a stretching session. If you enjoy dancing, you could dance around to your favorite song. If you have weights available, do some quick weight lifting or push ups, pull ups, sit ups, dip, something that don’t require weights, if you don’t have weights handy. Or here’s one of my favorites that I do in a pinch. I search YouTube for 10 minute workouts or even seven minute workouts or five minute workouts. All of those are available and really do such a good job of getting my mind off of whatever I’m overthinking about. 

Megan Porta  05:42

Number two, air plus water plus words is the antidote for confusion. There are times when I’m sitting in front of my computer feeling like my head is filled with way too many things. I don’t know what to do next. I feel confused. I feel overwhelmed and just very mentally cluttered and unclear. Sometimes I try to just push through this feeling, hoping clarity will come with brute force. Does this ever work? No, literally never. Usually, what ends up happening is this, I push thinking I can convince my soul to just align already until I literally can’t coherently function. If you have these feelings of confusion, overwhelm and mental clutter, stop yourself and take the antidote so you can continue working or doing whatever you need to do with a clear mind. I tell my son to use this antidote, or at least a portion of it, when he’s in the middle of a chess tournament and feeling flustered and confused. There is so much power in pausing for a beat to allow your body to take in some air and hydration, I tell Sammy, my chess kid, to recognize that feeling of mental chaos and just pause then take a few really deep breaths after that, take a few big gulps of water. Thankfully, he’s one of those kids that always has a bottle of water with him, and he’s reported back that this has immensely helped him to turn things around. Now, if he weren’t in the middle of a chess match, I would add the third part of the equation, which is words, most likely your mental clutter and confusion isn’t happening when you’re under pressure to make moves on a chessboard. So you can likely perform this last very important part. Take just a few minutes to write out what you’re feeling. You can also talk it out, but writing brings so much clarity. In my experience, you don’t have to take a long time with this start with just five minutes, pull out your journal or a Google Doc and vent about your overwhelm. What are you feeling? Why are you feeling confused? Let the words pour out onto your paper, and I promise you that clarity will reveal itself. It works for me every single time.

Megan Porta  07:59

Between giving your brain error, providing your body with hydration and letting your thoughts flow out onto paper, clarity will find you. Here are a few ideas. Close your eyes and breathe deeply for just a couple of minutes. If you need to time yourself, you can definitely do that. Try box breathing so four counts in four counts. Hold four counts out until you feel your heart rate slow down. Drink a full glass of water and fill another glass that you can drink once you’re finished with this exercise, write out your thoughts like we just talked about, or call a trusted friend and vent for a few minutes talking through your overwhelm works too if you’re not a writer or just talk it out to yourself, This might feel weird, but the important thing is that the thoughts come out of your brain. 

Megan Porta  08:48

Number three, gratitude for people is the antidote for feeling underappreciated, undervalued and unworthy. I talk to a lot of food bloggers and the isolation we deal with as an industry so easily and prevalently, leads to feelings of not feeling appreciated or valued, and that can be by peers, audience, family, other people most of the time. This is false, but the loneliness we feel from working alone a lot of the time can cause us to get in our heads, we don’t have coworkers in our homes with us to lift us up or give us praise and to just tell us that we’re doing a good job. When it’s just us in our thoughts, it becomes really easy to talk ourselves into the lies that say that we are not appreciated or valued or worthy. In some instances, this can take us down a path of anxiety or depression, and this can massively negatively impact the work we produce. Thankfully, there is an antidote for this, like all the other challenges we’re talking about in this episode, we have to become aware of what is happening and stop ourselves so we can take the antidote. It. This case, having those feelings of being unworthy and maybe even worthless or useless is a sign to stop and express gratitude for people. When you take time to acknowledge and express gratitude for the people around you, it shifts your focus completely from what is lacking to what is right. It’ll remind you that your support system is invaluable, that you’re actually very valued, and that you are surrounded with incredible people. Who should we express gratitude for? Choose the first three people who come to mind right now and give them each at least a minute of thankful thoughts, even if one of those people is a competitor or someone who creates disharmony in your life somehow or your soul, go there. Express gratitude for the talents they bring to the world or the way they make you push yourself a little bit harder every day. Find good things, because there’s always good things about absolutely anyone. 

Megan Porta  10:57

Here are a few ideas. Send a thank you note or a text or a message to someone who has supported you recently, verbally express gratitude to your team, to your followers or your family for their support. Keep a gratitude journal handy so you can write out your thoughts of gratitude when it comes to mind. Maybe even do this on a regular basis to proactively combat those feelings of unworthiness. Try writing through points of gratitude for three people every day if you feel inspired to do that. 

Megan Porta  11:30

Number four, do one thing is the antidote for a lack of motivation. You know that feeling the one where you’re sitting on the couch or lying in your bed, and it feels absolutely impossible to think about getting up and doing something productive. Sometimes, when I’m struck with these paralyzing feelings, I succumb and I remain inactive, only to feel like a pile of mental garbage later and a huge loser. These stretches of time are not my favorite feeling, that intense lack of motivation can be so paralyzing, especially if we have a big task or a project hanging over our heads. Newton’s law of inertia states that an object in motion stays in motion and an object at rest stays at rest. The solution to combating a lack of motivation is hiding inside that law, if you are having a hard time finding the motivation to move, whether physically or mentally, the answer is that you have to move. Think of one small thing that will get you moving, then do that thing. As hard as it seems, once you are moving, you will wonder why it seems so hard. Because once you’re in motion, momentum will carry you. If you are avoiding a work project or just work altogether, think of one single, tiny task that will get things moving. I will use an example from my week. 

Megan Porta  12:53

It is currently winter break, and although I’ve taken plenty of time to chill with my family, I knew going into the week that there were just a few projects I needed to complete in order to stay on track. One of those things was writing an outline for this episode. I was watching a movie with one of my boys in the morning, wondering how I was going to find the motivation to get this episode written. I pulled out the antidote and told myself, open the template. That was the simplest task I could think of that would set things in motion. So I opened the template, I wrote the name of the episode at the top, and the rest is history, because I haven’t stopped writing since completing one small task will give you a sense of accomplishment, and will get that momentum going, which is so important, which will fuel the desire to keep moving. Here are a few ideas. Identify one tiny task you can do right now, no matter how small it seems. If you know you need to move physically and get off the couch or wherever you’re sitting or laying, the task could be putting on your walking shoes. That’s it. The momentum will carry you from there. Avoid overloading yourself with a long to do list so you don’t get to that shutdown point in the first place and celebrate each small win to keep momentum going. 

Megan Porta  14:08

Number five boundaries is the antidote for overwhelm. Overwhelm is unfortunately synonymous with entrepreneurship. I hate that that’s the case, but it is a lot of the time. We just have so much to do, and we have so much to keep track of. As our businesses grow, the overwhelm does not decrease. Things become more complicated, causing the overwhelm to take over our brains at times. Honestly, there are a handful of antidotes for this point, like consistent meditation, downtime, etc. But if you’re looking for a quick antidote for that feeling of overwhelm, draw a boundary. Once you recognize what’s going on, you should be able to pinpoint in this moment, one boundary you can draw that will help you to not feel so overwhelmed. Here’s an example you’re having. A day where there’s a lot on your plate, then one seemingly little thing pushes you over the edge into that deep sense of overwhelm. You received a comment on one of your recipes from a user who trashed your recipe, and they trashed you as a human this unjust comment is settling into your soul, making you feel like you cannot possibly post another recipe ever again, or see a comment like this one ever again. You’re way too overwhelmed to even move. But you stop and you realize that it’s been a buildup of things all day, and that this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. You stop and administer your antidote. What boundary can you draw right now that will help. You could outsource replying to blog comments to your VA. You’ll give them implicit instructions about how to handle comments like these, along with instructions to never tell you about these types of comments, because you don’t need to hear them. Set that boundary in motion by communicating with your VA immediately and passing off this task pronto. If there are other boundaries that come to mind that relate to other things that contributed to your overwhelm, implement those too the boundary momentum is powerful. Once you set one important boundary in place, others become so much easier to set. And by setting boundaries, you protect your time, you protect your energy, which ensures that you can focus on what matters most. Boundaries help prevent overwhelm and even burn out by allowing you to say no to what does not serve your goals or your well being. Here are a few ideas, set designated work hours and stick to them. Say no to social media or phone time outside of your designated work hours, say no to things that do not align with your goals, create personal time for rest and recharge and do not feel guilty for stepping away and set boundaries around anything that brings down your energy or mood. 

Megan Porta  16:55

That is all we have for this episode. I really hope that you use some or all of these antidotes to help overcome mental blocks and any challenges you face as an entrepreneur, some of these things can literally feel like poison in our businesses and in our lives. So hold the antidote in your hand with reverence and using it will get rid of that poison and help you to move forward in a positive way. Just to recap really quickly. Number one, physical movement is the antidote for rumination. Two, air water and words is the antidote for confusion. Three, gratitude for people is the antidote for feeling underappreciated, undervalued and unworthy. Four, do one thing is the antidote for a lack of motivation and five setting a boundary is the antidote for overwhelm. I hope you found this episode helpful, and I also hope you have a wonderful week ahead. I will see you next week.

Outro 

Thank you so much for listening to this mindset and self-care episode here on Eat Blog Talk. If you are a food blogger providing a service for other food bloggers, and you want to spread the word about the value that you offer. I would love to offer you a free way to do just this. Send me a 60 second audio clip to be featured in a mindset and self-care episode here on Eat Blog Talk in 2024. Go to eatblogtalk.com/audioclip to learn more.